Blogs

My little website only averages about 16 unique views a day, so it was a huge surprise when I got a REAL (meaning unsolicited) comment to one of my blogs, one I didn't have to browbeat a family member into writing. It was so exciting and really made my day. MB wrote: Hello, I love reading your blog. It is really very impressive. I want to leave a comment in your support. Carry on with good continuation. Best of luck for your blogging efforts. MB loves my blog and thinks it's impressive! Whoo! Head rush! Thank you, MB! This shred of acknowledgement has furthered my ambition to expand my little empire. To do this, I'd have to make a formal announcement via email and Facebook, something along the lines of Hey! I have a blog! Go read it and if you like it, tell your friends! The problem with this is that I abhor being the center of attention. I seldom ever pose for pictures, and even posting a Facebook status makes me uncomfortable. So why would someone who shuns the limelight start a public blog in the first place? Firstly, the interwebs is so vast, the chance of somebody randomly stumbling on SOTSOTR who actually knows me is minuscule. Secondly, as I mentioned elsewhere on these pages, I love to write. Thirdly, I needed a creative outlet, now that I'm too old to make babies. A good friend pointed out that I could have just bought a notebook and started an old-fashioned, hand-written journal, but there's only so much you can do with pen and paper. Most importantly, I think keeping it public forces me to maintain a writing standard that would not exist in a private, eyes-only journal; a sort of "all the news that's fit to print" mentality. It's interesting that both times I typed the word public in the above paragraph, it came out pubic. As much as there is a part of me that craves a wider audience, there's a bigger part that worries about the consequences. As things stand now, I can write when I have something I think is worthwhile to write about and, hopefully, worthwhile to read. Basically, I can go at my own pace. But if I suddenly found myself with several hundred page views a day, the pressure to churn out blogs for the sake of my readership would eventually drive me crazy. I remember what a dear friend wisely replied to my comment that she should sell her crafts and make some money: "If I did that, it wouldn't be fun any more." And isn't that what it's all about?